Every now and then the festering issue of IE as a viable browser rears it’s ugly head. This eventuality usually occurs right around the release of a new version. Microsofts latest iteration, IE8, was slated to be released without standards mode being the default rendering mode. With all the progress that the web comunity has made with standards why wouldn’t this be the default? Months later, after more than a few angry articles, Microsoft has changed it’s mind and announced that “Super Standard Mode” will be the default rendering mode.
Good news for all. But it’s still too early to tell if this will be enough. There is still the issue of IE not embracing early adoption of CSS 3, and HTML 5. Most other standards based browsers have started supporting these future thinking standards and primed the web with example implementations and preparations for the inevitable switch.
What ever happened to “keeping up with the Joneses”? Let alone trying to pass up your competition. Heck Microsoft doesn’t even market a browser for Macintosh,the second largest growing operating system on the market. It’s even lost the browser wars on mobile devices with Safari (webkit) recently taking that crown.
It’s with these thoughts that I ask, is IE even worth the trouble? Maybe it should just go away and leave the innovation to the more relevant competitors on the web.